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Stock Futures Cautious as Deere Declines

Written by: Andrea Tse05/15/13 - 9:11 AM EDT

Tickers in this article:
A BBRY DE GPS ^DJI ^GSPC ^IXIC

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Stock futures were little changed Wednesday, easing off fresh highs from the prior session after Deere, the world's largest agricultural-equipment maker, warned that global demand was weaker-than-expected.

Futures for the S&P 500 were down 2.75 points, or 1.99 points below fair value, to 1,645.25.

Deere was falling 3.22% to $90.75 after the company's outlook took on a cautious tone, citing global financial pressures and adverse weather patterns.

The European Union's statistics office in Luxembourg reported Wednesday that euro area growth fell by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2013 after falling 0.6% in the fourth quarter. This worse-than-expected report was offset by Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King's remarks Tuesday that there has been a "welcome change in the economic outlook," where growth will be a little stronger and inflation a little weaker than what he expected three months ago.

Agilent Technologies was rising 1.09% to $44.45 after the testing equipment maker's quarterly earnings beat estimates by ten cents at 77 cents a share, offset by a lower-than-expected current quarter guidance of 60 cents to 64 cents a share as the company announces a restructuring that will result in a two percent cut to its workforce worldwide.

Gap was up 1.27% to $41.40 after the retailer was raised to "buy" from "neutral" by Citigroup analysts, who referenced an improved merchandise selection and economy.

BlackBerry was off 2.16% to $14.93 after the smartphone maker was cut by Bernstein analysts to "market perform" from "outperform" at a price target of $15, down from $22. "In a best case, and if the market discounts a successful turnaround, Blackberry could be shipping 7 million to 10 million units a quarter ... could justify a $20 to $25 stock price," analyst Pierre Ferragu wrote. "In a worst case, if Blackberry struggles with its sub-scale position and remains a marginalized player like Nokia and HTC today, Blackberry could be worth less than $10."

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 15 points, or 16.25 points below fair value, to 15,160. Futures for the Nasdaq were down 2 points, or 1 point below fair value, to 2,993.25.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the producer price index fell by a more-than-expected 0.7% in April after dipping 0.6% in March. Excluding food and energy, core prices ticked up 0.1%, as expected, up from a 0.2% rise the prior month. Economists, on average, expected the ppi to fall 0.6%.

The New York Federal Reserve reported that the Empire State manufacturing index fell four points to negative 1.4 in May. A rise to 4 was expected by economists, on average, according to Thomson Reuters.

The Federal Reserve is forecast to report at 9:15 a.m. that industrial production fell 0.2% in April following a 0.4% increase in March. Capacity utilization rates might have to fallen to 78.3% in April from 78.5% in March.